Africa
Conflicting statements from South African officials regarding online gambling
MacDonald Netshitenzhe, the Chief Director of South Africa’s Consumer and Corporate Regulation Division of the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), has declared that “we can stop online gambling – by banning the Internet.”
However, Ghaleb Cachalia, the DA Shadow Deputy Minister of Trade and Industry, does not subscribe the view. She said that her ministry will not support the National Gambling Amendment Bill and blamed Netshitenzhe for the confusion prevailing now.
Netshitenzhe was the Chief Director of Policy and Legislation at the DTI. Cachalia blamed him that he was “responsible for this mess in the first place,” referring to the bill.
“This amendment bill emanates from the flawed gambling policy of 2016 which believes, amongst other things, that online gambling should be banned.”
Cachalia also noted that the Minister of Trade and Industry, Rob Davies, said “online gambling is strictly prohibited” and he wants tougher measures to be implemented to curb it.
Davies is seeking more powers for the National Gambling Board to do so and trying to make the board the industry regulator.
While he also proposed clamping down on advertising and unsolicited messages to entice vulnerable groups to gamble, Cachalia said that the biggest crackdown will be made on unlawful winnings via online gambling.
The government will use the Financial Intelligence Centre, which will work with financial institutions, to verify and seize online winnings.
“If you go online, we may not be able to stop you when you play the game, but when you win, we get you,” Davies reportedly said.
Africa
Booming Games Partners with Hollywoodbets to Launch Immersive Slots Games in South Africa
Booming Games proudly informs about its newest partnership with leading operator Hollywoodbets.
Booming Games is thrilled to announce this significant collaboration with Hollywoodbets, one of the largest operators in Africa. The South African online gaming market is one of the world’s most exciting and rapidly emerging regulated markets. This tier-one partnership will allow Booming Games to provide its entire portfolio of slot games, ensuring a broad and engaging selection for players. Among the top-performing titles included are Ronaldinho Spin, Burning Classics, Gold Gold Gold 5000, TNT Bonanza 2, and Cash Pig. Both companies are confident that this partnership will bring unparalleled gaming experiences to the South African market.
Solomon Godwin, Head Africa at Booming Games, said: “South Africa, a robust market on the continent, offers tremendous opportunities for Booming Games. Partnering with a top-tier operator like Hollywoodbets enhances this potential. Hollywoodbets exemplifies the tier-one client we seek to support our growth ambitions in the region, and we are thrilled to collaborate with them.”
Wayde Dorkin, Head of Product at Hollywoodbets, said: “We are excited to partner with such a progressive slots provider. We expect our customers to take well to Booming Games and are planning to launch some of their groundbreaking new content exclusively in South Africa.”
Africa
SunBet Extends Online Betting Platform Contract with Bede Gaming Amid Record-Breaking Performance
SunBet Extends Online Betting Platform Contract with Bede Gaming Amid Record-Breaking Performance
Bede Gaming has secured a further contract extension with South African online sports betting brand SunBet, the digital arm of Sun International and one of the fastest growing operators in the SA online market.
The new contract renewal comes as SunBet reports record-breaking digital growth in its H1-24 performance report, including a 72% year-over-year (YoY) growth in revenue and 72% increase in active players, driving an 89% improvement in EBITDA.
As a leading supplier of software to the igaming industry, Bede has supported the ambitions of this customer with tailored features and services to achieve SunBet’s business objectives while delivering the highest cost efficiencies.
Since the launch of the SunBet Slots offering in 2022, Bede has provided various additional optimisations, including integrating 7 new game providers to SunBet.co.za, releasing enhancements to the existing Kambi Sportsbook integration functionality, and delivering bespoke training on product features such as Bede’s powerful rules engine and bonusing suite.
This year alone, Bede has partnered with SunBet’s operations to –
- Optimise environmental infrastructure, aiming to deliver run cost efficiencies that will reduce the total cost of ownership by 30% by the end of the year.
- Develop a bespoke aggregator tool to achieve cost-effective game content customisation via a streamlined South Africa-specific solution.
- Enter into the new regulated markets of Namibia and Botswana (due to launch in 2024).
Colin Cole-Johnson, Bede Chief Executive Officer.“It’s been fantastic to see SunBet grow throughout the course of our partnership, and I’m delighted by their commitment to Bede at this crucial point in their journey. Securing another extension on this contract is testament to our dedication to our customers.”
SunBet’s partnership with Bede dates back to 2017, when digital offerings to this market were restricted to sports betting and live casino. With the change to slot content regulation in the South African market in August 2022, SunBet has expanded its online offering through Bede’s platform environment and has seen substantial growth in revenue and performance as a result.
Simon Gregory, SunBet Chief Executive Officer Bede has been a strong long-term partner for us, supporting and delivering on SunBet’s growth ambitions with quality and expertise. I’m very much looking forward to these next steps, especially now as we approach new African expansions.”
Africa
EveryMatrix secures largest African turnkey deal with MBet partnership
EveryMatrix has sealed its largest turnkey platform partnership in Africa to date and will migrate MBet from its existing software to EveryMatrix technology.
The turnkey sportsbook agreement will see EveryMatrix power MBet with its award-winning technology in Tanzania and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).
MBet’s sports betting offering will be transformed via the high-performing, ‘always-on’ OddsMatrix digital sportsbook platform that includes access to a content catalogue of 170,000+ monthly live sportsbook events, empowering Odds Management control tools and comprehensive 11-sport pre-live and live Bet Builder.
The East African operator will also gain access to a suite of player-friendly localised products including in-house lightweight front end, USSD betting, SMS functionality, Do It Yourself manual event creation tools and a dynamic betslip engine supporting 50+ accumulator selections.
This enhanced sportsbook platform package will be further supplemented by the integration of additional EveryMatrix core turnkey products including casino productivity platform CasinoEngine, cross-product reward system BonusEngine and player management platform GamMatrix.
Migrating from 11-year-old proprietary technology to an EveryMatrix tech stack, MBet becomes the latest ambitious operator to join the rapidly expanding EveryMatrix platform network. Fresh from the recent acquisitions of FSB Technology and Fantasma Games, the industry’s fastest growing iGaming technology supplier now has more than 1,100+ staff across 15 global offices.
Established in 2013, MBet has developed into one of the leading sportsbook brands in the competitive East African region following the creation of a customer-centric proposition aided by a portfolio of local sports partnerships.
Ebbe Groes, CEO and co-founder, EveryMatrix, said: “This tier-1 African turnkey partnership sends a strong signal that EveryMatrix is rapidly becoming the ‘go-to’ platform provider for ambitious operators in the exciting Africa region.
“Africa presents a unique set of scalability challenges for platform providers and, with millions of bets processed daily across our OddsMatrix sportsbook platform, this is a region tailormade for the transformative capabilities of the EveryMatrix technology.
“I’m particularly pleased to see this deal follow our acquisition of FSB Technology. FSB has developed a strong client base across the African continent and the experience and product readiness from FSB was instrumental in EveryMatrix winning this landmark deal.
“We are pleased to welcome MBet to the EveryMatrix platform and look forward to propelling their offering into a market-leading proposition in Tanzania, DRC and beyond.”
Javier Diaz, CEO, MBet, said: “We are immensely proud of everything MBet has achieved in the last decade. Securing leading positions in Tanzania and the DRC has demonstrated the growth journey we’ve been on.
“What has become clear in the last 18 months is that to take us to the next level in our operations we need to be aligned with a leading third-party technology provider.
“After a thorough search we are confident that we have selected the right partner in EveryMatrix. The hyper growth they have achieved globally in the last several years has been inspiring and their end-to-end turnkey offering provides us with the content, tools, features and localised capabilities to differentiate our daily offering and scale MBet upwards onto a new level.”
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